Touch window having improved electrode pattern structure

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a touch window. The touch window includes a cover window, a first sensing electrode layer formed on a view area (V/A) of the cover window and including a first electrode pattern including a first unit cell electrode pattern, and a second sensing electrode layer formed on the view area and including a second electrode pattern which crosses the first electrode pattern and includes a second unit cell electrode pattern. A ratio of an area of the space part between a first unit cell electrode pattern and a second unit cell electrode pattern adjacent to the first unit cell electrode pattern with respect to an area of the first unit cell electrode pattern of the first electrode pattern or the second unit cell electrode pattern of the second electrode pattern is in the range of 10% to 20%.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/033,732, filed Jul. 12, 2018; which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/195,148, filed Jun. 28, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No.10,049,826, issued Aug. 14, 2018; which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/930,655, filed Jun. 28, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No.9,496,097, issued Nov. 15, 2016; which claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. § 119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0071440, filedJun. 29, 2012; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

BACKGROUND

The embodiment relates to a scheme capable of effectively forming anelectrode pattern of a touch window.

A touch window is installed on a display surface of an image displaydevice including a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display(LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), oran electro-luminescence device (ELD), so that a user inputspredetermined information into an electronic appliance by pressing atouch panel while viewing the image display device.

The touch window includes a cover window W to receive a touch from theoutside, a touch screen panel (TSP) provided at a lower portion of thecover window W and divided into a view area (V/A) and a dead area (D/A)through a sensing electrode layer, and a button part electricallyconnected to the touch screen panel and realized in the form of an iconon the surface of the cover window.

However, although various electrode materials including indium-tin oxide(ITO) have been applied to an electrode pattern to form a sensingelectrode pattern, the electrode materials do not represent sufficientoptical characteristics. In addition, recently, although a sensingelectrode layer is formed by designing an effective part by patterningthe electrode pattern according to the demand for a multi-touch, theelectrode pattern is viewed at the upper portion of a touch screen paneldue to the transmittance and the color difference of the electrodepattern.

FIG. 1 is a view showing one example in which electrode patterns areformed according to the related art.

The electrode patterns shown in FIG. 1 are easily viewed by the eyes ofa user because the interval between adjacent electrode patterns is wide.In other words, when a touch window is applied to a product for the useof a user, inferior visibility is represented, and internal circuits andelectrode patterns are leaked so that security problems are caused.

SUMMARY

The embodiment provides a touch window capable of improving visibilityby inhibiting an electrode pattern from being viewed to the outside bymaking the ratio of the area of the space, which is formed between unitcell electrode patterns, to the area of the unit cell electrode patternas the ratio of 10% to 20%.

The embodiment provides a touch window capable of inhibiting the shapeof an electrode pattern from being leaked to the outside by forming adummy pattern, which does not receive a touch input, in a space withoutthe electrode pattern.

According to one embodiment, there is provided a touch window includinga cover window, a first sensing electrode layer formed on a view area(V/A) of the cover window and including a first electrode patternincluding a first unit cell electrode pattern, a second sensingelectrode layer formed on the view area and including a second electrodepattern which crosses the first electrode pattern and includes a secondunit cell electrode pattern, and a space part between the first unitcell electrode pattern and the second unit cell electrode patternadjacent to the first unit cell electrode pattern. A ratio of an area ofthe space part to an area of the first unit cell electrode pattern orthe second unit cell electrode pattern may be in a range of 10% to 20%.

The touch window may further include a pattern layer formed in the spacepart and having a dummy pattern which does not receive a touch input.

The pattern layer may have the dummy pattern including at least onematerial of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC),polyether sulfone (PES), polyimide (PI), and polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA).

The pattern layer may have the dummy pattern including a materialdifferent from a material constituting the first electrode pattern orthe second electrode pattern.

In the first and second sensing electrode layers, a first leadelectrode, which is configured to connect first unit cell electrodepatterns to each other, and a second lead electrode, which is configuredto connect second unit cell electrode patterns to each other, may havelengths in the range of 1 μm to 30 μm.

The space part may have a width smaller than or larger than a width ofthe first lead electrode or a width of the second lead electrode.

The touch window may further include a wiring part formed in a dead areaof the cover window and including a wiring pattern connected with thefirst and second electrode patterns.

The first sensing electrode layer may include the first electrodepattern directly formed on the cover window, and the second sensingelectrode layer may include the second electrode pattern formed on abase substrate bonded to an opposite surface of the first sensingelectrode layer through an adhesive layer.

The first and second sensing electrode layers may include the first andsecond electrode patterns formed on one surface of the base substratebonded to the cover window and on a surface opposite to the one surface.

The first sensing electrode layer may include the first electrodepattern on a first base substrate bonded to one surface of the coverwindow, and the second sensing electrode layer may include the secondelectrode pattern on a second base substrate bonded to an oppositesurface of the first sensing electrode layer

As described above, according to one embodiment, visibility can beimproved by inhibiting an electrode pattern from being viewed to theoutside by making the ratio of the area of the space, which is formedbetween unit cell electrode patterns, to the area of the unit cellelectrode pattern as the ratio of 10% to 20%.

According to the embodiment, the shape of an electrode pattern can beinhibited from being leaked to the outside by forming a dummy pattern,which does not receive a touch input, in a space without the electrodepattern.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing one example in which an electrode pattern isformed according to the related art.

FIGS. 2a and 2b are views showing an electrode pattern formed at asensing electrode layer in a touch window according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing one example of an electrode pattern in a touchwindow according to another embodiment.

FIGS. 4 to 8 are sectional views showing the structures of touch windowsaccording to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the structure and the operation according to the embodimentwill be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings. Inthe following description based on the accompanying drawings, the sameelements will be assigned with the same reference numerals regardless ofdrawing numbers, and the repetition in the description of the sameelements having the same reference numerals will be omitted in order toavoid redundancy. Although the terms “first” and “second” may be used inthe description of various elements, the embodiment is not limitedthereto. The terms “first” and “second” are used to distinguish oneelement from the other elements.

FIGS. 2a and 2b are views showing an electrode pattern formed at asensing electrode layer in a touch window according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2a , the touch window includes a cover window, a firstsensing electrode layer, a second sensing electrode layer, and a spacepart G.

The first and second sensing electrode layers are provided in a viewarea (V/A). The view area is an area in which an input touch is receivedwhen the touch is input into the cover window from the outside. Thefirst and second sensing electrode layers are provided under the coverwindow.

The first sensing electrode layer includes a first electrode pattern.One of plural first electrode patterns 110 and 130 is referred to afirst unit cell electrode pattern.

The second sensing electrode layer includes a second electrode pattern.The second electrode pattern crosses the first electrode pattern. One ofplural second electrode patterns 120 and 140 is referred to as a secondunit cell electrode pattern.

The first electrode pattern may cross the second electrode patternwithout overlapping with the second electrode pattern. In other words, aplurality of first electrode patterns may be formed at the first sensingelectrode layer, and a plurality of second electrode patterns may beformed at the second sensing electrode layer.

For example, a plurality of first electrode patterns to determine thecomponents of a first axis (e.g., X axis) may be formed at the firstsensing electrode layer, and a plurality of second electrode patterns todetermine the components of a second axis (e.g., Y axis) may be formedat the second sensing electrode layer. Preferably, the first and secondsensing electrode layers are patterned in the configuration in which thefirst and second electrode layers are insulated from each other.

The space part G is provided between the first unit cell electrodepattern 110 and the second unit cell electrode pattern 120 adjacent tothe first unit cell electrode pattern 110. Space parts G may be providedbetween the first unit cell electrode patterns 110 and 130 and thesecond unit cell electrode patterns 120 and 140, respectively.

In this case, the area of the space part G may be 10% to 20% of the areaof the first unit cell electrode pattern 110 or the second unit cellelectrode pattern 120.

In other words, the ratio of the area of a space, which is providedbetween the first unit cell electrode pattern and the second unit cellelectrode pattern adjacent to the first unit cell electrode pattern, tothe area of the first unit cell electrode pattern of the first electrodepattern or the area of the second unit cell electrode pattern of thesecond electrode pattern is 10% to 20%.

Accordingly, the space between the first and second unit cell electrodepatterns may be formed with the width of 30 μm or less. In other words,the width of the space part G may be 30 μm or less.

According to the related art, a wide space is formed between the firstunit cell electrode pattern 110 and the second unit cell electrodepattern 120 adjacent to the first unit cell electrode pattern 110, sothat the electrode patterns stand out. In other words, the first andsecond electrode patterns are viewed.

However, according to the embodiment, the space part G has the areacorresponding to 10% to 20% of the area of the first unit cell electrodepattern 110 or the second unit cell electrode pattern 120, so that theelectrode patterns are not viewed. Accordingly, the visibility can beimproved.

In detail, referring to FIG. 2b , on the assumption that the length andthe width of the first unit cell electrode pattern 110 have a size of‘a’, and the space between the two unit cells has the width of ‘b’, ifthe area (b²+2ab) of spaces is divided by the whole area a² of the firstunit cell electrode pattern 110, the result is obtained as (b²+2ab)/a².In this case, the ratio of the area (b²+2ab) of the spaces to the wholearea a² of the first unit cell electrode pattern 110 may be 10% to 20%.In this case, if the ratio is less than 10%, the electric short betweenthe two unit cells may occur. If the ratio exceeds 20%, the inferiorvisibility of the electrode pattern may be represented. For example, ‘a’may be 4 mm, and ‘b’ may be 30 μm.

Accordingly, the length of a first lead electrode 150 to connect thefirst unit cell electrode patterns 110 and 130 to each other and thelength of a second lead electrode 160 to connect the second unit cellelectrode patterns 120 and 140 to each other may be 30 μm or less. Indetail, the length of the first lead electrode 150 or the length of thesecond lead electrode 160 may be in the range of 1 μm to 30 μm.

Since the space between adjacent unit cell electrode patterns isnarrowed as compared with that of the related art, the length of thelead electrode to connect the unit cell electrode patterns to each otheris reduced together with the space.

In addition, the width of the space may be smaller than or larger thanthe width of the first lead electrode 150 or the second lead electrode160. In other words, if the width of the first lead electrode 150 or thesecond lead electrode 160 is 28 μm, the width of the space may be 26 μmor 30 μm.

The touch window may further include a wiring part formed in a dead area(D/A) of the cover window and including a wiring pattern connected withthe first and second electrode patterns. The dead area is an area inwhich an input touch is not received even if the touch is input into thecover window from the outside. Accordingly, in order to cover the wiringpart, a printed pattern may be formed in the dead area. The printedpattern may be formed one time or several times.

Hereinafter, a touch window according to another embodiment will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a view showing one exampleof an electrode pattern in the touch window according to anotherembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the touch window, a sensing electrode layerhaving an electrode pattern 310 may be formed in the cover window. Sinceelectrode patterns 310 include conductive materials, the space part Gmay be formed between the electrode patterns 310 to inhibit theconductive materials from being conducted to each other due to thecontact of the conductive materials.

In this case, the touch window may further include a pattern layer inwhich a dummy pattern 320, which does not receive a touch input, may beformed in the space part G. For example, the electrode pattern 310 mayreceive an input touch when the touch is input into the cover window,but the dummy pattern 320 does not receive the input touch even if thetouch is input into the cover window.

According to the embodiment, the dummy pattern 320 may include at leastone of indium-tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc oxide(ZnO), carbon nano-tube (CNT), graphene, silver nano-wire (Ag NW), andconductive polymer constituting the first electrode pattern or thesecond electrode pattern.

According to another embodiment, the dummy pattern 320 may include anon-conductive material. For example, the dummy pattern 320 may includeat least one of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC),polyether sulfone (PES), polyimide (PI), and polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA).

Accordingly, the dummy pattern may include a material different fromthat constituting the electrode pattern.

According to the embodiment, since the dummy pattern 320 is provided atthe space part G between the electrode patterns 310, the electrodepattern 310 can be inhibited from being viewed.

In addition, even if the electrode pattern 310 and the dummy pattern 320are viewed from the outside, since the electrode pattern 310 is viewedtogether with the dummy pattern 320, the distinguishment between theelectrode pattern 310 and the dummy pattern 320 is difficult, so thatthe security can be enhanced.

Meanwhile, the first and second sensing electrode layers may be providedtherein with the first electrode pattern or the second electrode patternincluding at least one of ITO, IZO, ZnO, CNT, graphene, Ag NW, andconductive polymer.

Meanwhile, the sensing electrode layer may be variously formed in thetouch window.

FIGS. 4 to 8 are sectional views showing the structures of touch windowsaccording to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the touch window, a first electrode pattern isdirectly patterned on a cover window 400 to form a first sensingelectrode layer 410, and a second electrode pattern is patterned on onesurface of a base substrate 470 to form a second sensing electrode layer320. In this case, the cover window 400 is bonded to the base substrate470 through an adhesive material layer 430, and a double-sided adhesivetape 460 is provided on an opposite surface of the base substrate 470 sothat the base substrate 470 adheres to a liquid crystal module LCM.

In this case, according to the embodiment, a dummy pattern may be formedin the base substrate 470 by utilizing the base substrate 470 as apattern layer. The base substrate 470 may include a film material orglass. In this case, the film material may include at least one of PET,PC, PES, PI, and PMMA.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the touch window, a first electrode pattern ispatterned in a first base substrate 570 a bonded to the cover window 500through a first adhesive material layer 530 a to form a first sensingelectrode layer 510, and a second electrode pattern is patterned at asecond base substrate 570 b to form a second sensing electrode layer520. In this case, the first and second base substrates 570 a and 570 bare bonded to each other through the second adhesive material layer 530b. A double-sided adhesive tape 560 is provided on an opposite surfaceof the second base substrate 570 b so that the second base substrate 570b adheres to a liquid crystal module (LCM).

Even in the case, a dummy pattern may be formed in the first basesubstrate 570 a or the second base substrate 570 b by utilizing thefirst base substrate 570 a or the second base substrate 570 b as apattern layer.

Referring to FIG. 6, in the touch window, a first sensing electrodelayer 610 is formed on one surface of a base substrate 670 bonded to thecover window 600 through an adhesive material layer 630 by patterningthe first electrode pattern, and a second sensing electrode layer 620 isformed on a surface opposite to the one surface of the base substrate470 by patterning the second electrode pattern. In other words, thefirst and second electrode patterns are patterned on the same basesubstrate 670. A liquid crystal module (LCM) may be provided on anopposite surface of the second base substrate 670 b having the secondsensing electrode layer 620.

Referring to FIG. 7, in the touch window, on one surface of a coverwindow 700, a first sensing electrode layer 710 is formed by patterninga first electrode pattern, and a second sensing electrode layer 720 isformed by patterning a second electrode pattern. In other words, thefirst and second electrode patterns are patterned on the same coverwindow 700. The cover window 700 having the first and second sensingelectrode layers 710 and 720 may be bonded to a liquid crystal module(LCM) through a double-sided adhesive tape 760 while interposing aprotective layer 780 between the cover window 700 and the double-sidedadhesive tape 760.

Referring to FIG. 8, in the touch window, a second cover window 800 bdifferent from a cover window 800 a may be formed at the lower portionof the cover window 800 a. A first sensing electrode layer 810 having afirst electrode pattern may be formed on one surface of the second coverwindow 800 b, and a second sensing electrode layer 820 having a secondelectrode pattern may be formed on a surface opposite to the one surfaceof the second cover window 800 b. The cover window 800 a and the secondcover window 800 b are bonded to each other through an adhesive materiallayer 830. The second cover window 800 b may be bonded to an LCM througha double-sided adhesive tape 860 while interposing a protective layer880 between the second cover window 800 b and the LCM.

The touch window according to the embodiment can be attached to variousdisplay devices. In other words, the display devices may include anorganic light emitting device, or a plasma display panel as well as aliquid crystal display. In this case, in order to inhibit noisecomponents, which are generated during the driving of the displaydevice, from being transferred to a touch sensor module, that is, atouch screen panel (TSP) to cause the erroneous operation of a touchsensing panel, a shield layer may be selectively interposed between thetouch sensing panel and the display device.

Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is understood that the present invention should not belimited to these exemplary embodiments but various changes andmodifications can be made by one ordinary skilled in the art within thespirit and scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A touch window comprising: a cover window;a base substrate; a first sensing electrode formed on the base substrateand comprising first unit cell electrode patterns and a first leadelectrode connecting two first unit cell electrode patterns to eachother; a second sensing electrode that crosses the first sensingelectrode formed on the base substrate and comprising second unit cellelectrode patterns and a second lead electrode connecting two secondunit cell electrode patterns to each other; a first space part between afirst first unit cell electrode pattern and a first second unit cellelectrode pattern and a second second unit cell electrode patternadjacent to the first first unit cell electrode pattern, such that anarea of the first space part is a sum of a first area between the firstfirst unit cell electrode pattern and the first second unit cellelectrode pattern and a second area between the first first unit cellelectrode pattern and the second second unit cell electrode pattern,wherein the first first unit cell electrode pattern, the first secondunit cell electrode pattern, and the second second unit cell electrodepattern are disposed on a same surface of the base substrate; substrate,and wherein a ratio of the area of the first space part to an area ofthe first first unit cell electrode pattern is in a range of 10% to 20%.2. The touch window of claim 1, wherein a minimum distance between onefirst unit cell electrode pattern and one second unit cell electrodepattern is 30 μm or less.
 3. The touch window of claim 1, wherein aminimum width of the first space part is 30 μm or less.
 4. The touchwindow of claim 1, wherein a minimum width of the first space part issmaller than a minimum width of at least one of the first lead electrodeand the second lead electrode.
 5. The touch window of claim 1,comprising at least one dummy pattern formed in the first space part andconfigured to not receive a touch input.
 6. The touch window of claim 5,wherein a plurality of dummy patterns are disposed in the first spacepart.
 7. The touch window of claim 5, wherein a plurality of dummypatterns are disposed between the first first unit cell electrodepattern and the first and second second unit cell electrode patternsadjacent to the first first unit cell electrode pattern.
 8. The touchwindow of claim 1, wherein the second lead electrode is integrallyformed with the second unit cell electrode patterns.
 9. The touch windowof claim 1, comprising a second space part between a third second unitcell electrode pattern and a second first unit cell electrode patternand a third first unit cell electrode pattern adjacent to the thirdsecond unit cell electrode pattern.
 10. The touch window of claim 9,wherein the first space part and the second space part are partiallyoverlapped.
 11. The touch window of claim 9, wherein a minimum width ofthe second space part is smaller than a minimum width of at least one ofthe first lead electrode and the second lead electrode.
 12. The touchwindow of claim 1, wherein the one first unit cell electrode pattern andthe first and second second unit cell electrode patterns comprise atleast one of indium-tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc oxide(ZnO), carbon nano-tube (CNT), graphene, silver nano-wire (Ag NW), andconductive polymer.
 13. The touch window of claim 1, wherein a height ofa top surface of the first lead electrode is different from a height ofa top surface of the second lead electrode.
 14. The touch window ofclaim 1, wherein the base substrate comprises at least one of thepolyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyether sulfone(PES), polyimide (PI), and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
 15. The touchwindow of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the cover window is greaterthan a thickness of the base substrate.
 16. The touch window of claim 1,wherein the two-first and second second unit cell electrode patterns areelectrically connected to each other.
 17. A touch device comprising: anorganic light emitting device; a touch window on the organic lightemitting device; the touch window comprising: a cover window; a basesubstrate; a first sensing electrode formed on the base substrate andcomprising first unit cell electrode patterns and a first lead electrodeconnecting two first unit cell electrode patterns to each other; asecond sensing electrode that crosses the first sensing electrode formedon the base substrate and comprising second unit cell electrode patternsand a second lead electrode connecting two second unit cell electrodepatterns to each other; a first space part between a first first unitcell electrode pattern and a first second unit cell electrode patternand a second second unit cell electrode pattern adjacent to the firstfirst unit cell electrode pattern, such that an area of the first spacepart is a sum of a first area between the first first unit cellelectrode pattern and the first second unit cell electrode pattern and asecond area between the first first unit cell electrode pattern and thesecond second unit cell electrode pattern, wherein the first first unitcell electrode pattern, the first second unit cell electrode pattern,and the second second unit cell electrode pattern are disposed on a samesurface of the substrate, and wherein a ratio of the area of the firstspace part to an area of the first first unit cell electrode pattern isin a range of 10% to 20%.
 18. The touch device of claim 17, wherein aminimum distance between one first unit cell electrode pattern and onesecond unit cell electrode pattern is 30 μm or less.
 19. The touchdevice of claim 17, wherein a minimum width of the first space part is30 μm or less.
 20. The touch device of claim 17, wherein a minimum widthof the first space part is smaller than a minimum width of at least oneof the first lead electrode and the second lead electrode.
 21. The touchdevice of claim 17, comprising a second space part between a thirdsecond unit cell electrode pattern and a second first unit cellelectrode pattern and a third first unit cell electrode pattern adjacentto the third second unit cell electrode pattern.